Im Eun-jung (30th Judicial Research and Training Institute) publicly criticized Minister Jeong Seong-ho on the 29th, claiming that the Ministry of Justice is dominated by the prosecution and is pushing for judicial reform passively.
Im, the chief prosecutor, has been known for her candid remarks against the Yoon Suk-yeol administration while serving as a prosecutor. Last month, she was unexpectedly appointed as a chief prosecutor without going through the vice prosecutor position in the first senior prosecutor appointment by the Lee Jae-myung administration.
On that day, Chief Prosecutor Im attended a public hearing titled "What are the issues of judicial reform?" held at the National Assembly's members' office building. This public hearing was organized by civic groups including Candlelight Action. Im expressed her dismay over Minister Jeong's judicial reform proposal, stating, "It seems like it is just about increasing the number of chief prosecutor positions, which is disheartening." She further noted, "Even Minister Jeong is dominated by the prosecution."
Chief Prosecutor Im also defined the "five enemies of judicial reform." She stated, "There were those who asked me to mention at the public hearing whether there is a connection between Bong-wook, Chief Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs, Lee Jin-soo, Vice Minister of Justice, Seong Sang-hun, Director of the Prosecutors' Office, Noh Man-seok, Vice Administrator of the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office (acting Prosecutor General), Kim Soo-hong, Prosecutors' Division Head of the Ministry of Justice, and the five major law firms, to prevent the personnel disaster from repeating like the failure of judicial reform during the Moon Jae-in administration."
Chief Prosecutor Im said, "If human cleansing in the prosecution is carried out properly, structural reform would not be necessary. However, if human cleansing is not done, merely establishing a Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SIC) under the Ministry of Justice will only increase positions within the ministry." She also remarked regarding the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights, stating, "I have said that the supplementary investigation rights should not be implemented at the National Planning Commission."
The Democratic Party of Korea is currently pushing for judicial reform that includes dismantling the prosecution office to separate the prosecution and indictment functions. The plan involves transferring major crime investigation powers of the prosecution to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and establishing an indictment office under the Ministry of Justice to retain only the functions of prosecution and maintaining indictments that were previously handled by prosecutors. Additionally, they plan to abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights.
In response, Minister Jeong Seong-ho remarked during the National Assembly's budget committee response on the 25th and 26th that "it is inappropriate to place the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety." He also expressed negative views on the Democratic Party's intention to abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights and the proposal to establish a National Investigation Commission under the Prime Minister to handle investigation coordination tasks.
However, Minister Jeong stated during a meeting with reporters at a Democratic Party workshop the previous day, "There is no disagreement with the party regarding judicial reform. In any case, the legislative initiative is not held by the government but by the party."